This week on American Routes Shortcuts, we celebrate New Orleans piano man and producer extraordinaire, Allen Toussaint, who passed away in November 2015. Back in September 2005, just weeks after Katrina, Nick Spitzer interviewed Toussaint at his New York hotel. He was dressed impeccably as ever, with suit and sandals, plus colors that matched from socks to tie to hankie. In a few days he’d headline the Big Apple for the Big Easy fundraiser at Madison Square Garden.

A federal audit says FEMA should stop sending money to the City of New Orleans for repairing road and water-system damage sustained during hurricanes Katrina and Rita almost 12 years ago.

FEMA disagrees with the findings, and the city plans to press forward with repairs.

In order to get money from FEMA to repair its streets and sewer lines, city officials had to prove the damage was caused directly by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. After reviewing documents and consulting with engineers, FEMA agreed. It pledged to give the city $2.04 billion in December 2015.

Hurricane season starts today, and the city encourages all residents to have their own evacuation plan. But not everyone can get out of town on their own. That’s why New Orleans has developed a citywide assisted evacuation system. To run smoothly, a lot of agencies have to work together - and people have to know about it, too.

The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld a jury verdict finding that State Farm Fire and Casualty Co. defrauded the federal government after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast in 2005.

In the years before the hurricane, State Farm issued both federal government-backed flood insurance policies and general homeowners policies. After the hurricane, the company ordered its claims adjusters to misclassify wind damage as flood damage to shift liability to the government and spare the insurance company's coffers.

The flooding that devastated Baton Rouge Louisiana this month is a grim reminder of the havoc that nature can wreak on residents of the state. Today marks 11 years since Hurricane Katrina made landfall on the Gulf Coast, killing more than 1,800 people and displacing a million others.

On this eleventh anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, officials gathered to remember the dead. As WWNO’s Tegan Wendland reports, they held a prayer service and wreath-laying ceremony. This year’s memorial feels especially poignant, as parishes across southern Louisiana reel from devastating floods.

Ten years after Hurricane Katrina, the Federal Emergency Management Agency is settling up on how much it will pay to repair streets and sewer lines in New Orleans. Officials say much more than roadways can benefit.

Mark VanLandingham, Tulane University professor of global community health and behavioral sciences

Tulane University researchers are leading a study examining the long-term effects of Hurricane Katrina. The national project will examine the health effects of the storm, who came back, and where they are now.

After ten years of post-Katrina concerts in other venues, the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra returns to the Orpheum Theater in New Orleans' Central Business District to open its 2015-16 concert season.